


We are Family

by HYPERFocused



Category: Sports Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-21
Updated: 2007-04-21
Packaged: 2017-11-29 02:18:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/681586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HYPERFocused/pseuds/HYPERFocused
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hey Danny, look at me!" Charlie yells from the Ferris Wheel.</p><p>"I see you, Sport!" Dan yells back. Another mother turns to him. "Charlie's yours? He's darling."</p><p>Dan gives himself permission not to correct her. "Thank you. I think Charlie's great, too." He is Dan's, after all, even if there are no papers or rings to say so. Casey and Charlie truly are family.</p>
<hr/>
            </blockquote>





	We are Family

**Author's Note:**

> First part written for [](http://oxoniensis.livejournal.com/profile)[**oxoniensis**](http://oxoniensis.livejournal.com/) ' [Hugs, Cuddles, and Kisses](http://oxoniensis.livejournal.com/305445.html) challenge. Second part (plus some tweaking of the first) for [](http://60-minute-fics.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://60-minute-fics.livejournal.com/)**60_minute_fics** Sweetest Confection challenge.

It's a late fall Saturday morning, way too early to be up and active, and Dan is stiff and sore from sleeping on Casey's old futon. But it's a Charlie weekend, and this is the compromise they've made so they don't lose any precious time together. Dan slips into Casey's room after Charlie's gone to sleep, and they both pretend the boy isn't smart enough to figure things out.

Dan really wouldn't mind if Charlie did know. He's an amazing kid, smart and sweet and slightly less of a dork than his dad. So far he hasn't picked up any of Lisa's less desirable traits, which means Dan ruefully has to admit she's not an altogether horrible mother. Still, she doesn't hold a candle to Casey.

Dan's thoughts are interrupted when Casey drops a couple of aspirin and a bagel in front of him, then pours him a cup of coffee. "Thought you might need sustenance for the great journey ahead." He drapes his arms over Dan's shoulder's, and Dan twists around to kiss him. Charlie is in the shower, so they've got a few minutes.

"My hero!" Dan says, only exaggerating a little. Casey is his hero, the way he's always there for the people he loves. Dan is so damn grateful to be one of them. It totally makes having to spend the day at grammar school carnivals worth it.

"My dad's a hero?" Charlie says, walking into the kitchen, hair still damp and cowlicky, and pulling his t-shirt down over his jeans. He reaches up for the cereal, digging a hand into the Cap'N Crunch. Casey may pretend that it's just for Charlie, but Dan knows he's got a thing for the sweet stuff, too.

"Not like that, kiddo. You know better than that. Gotta have some milk with it, and maybe some fruit or juice. Your mom will kill me if she finds out you didn't have at least a moderately healthy breakfast."

Charlie shovels his cereal and gulps his juice like he's going for a fastest eater title. God forbid that's the 'sport' he goes for, Dan thinks. "Okay, all done. Can we go now? I want to get to the Ferris Wheel and the Roller Coaster!"

"I don't think there's going to be a coaster, kiddo," Dan tells him.

"Probably not," Casey confirms. "But there should still be some fun rides, and the "Weird Walk in the WIld Woods" sounds scary."

"Yeah!" Charlie is excited.

"It's going to be chilly," Casey warns, wrapping a scarf around Charlie's neck. Charlie grumbles. "You'll thank me for it later," Casey insists. He does the same for Dan, the tan cashmere one Casey gave him last Hannukah. Dan pretends to grumble, too, but secretly remembers other things they've done with the scarf.

The carnival really is fun, and Dan enjoys spending this easy time with Casey and Charlie. "Hey Danny, look at me!" Charlie yells from the Ferris Wheel.

"I see you, Sport!" Dan yells back. Another mother turns to him. "Charlie's yours? He's darling."

Dan gives himself permission not to correct her. "Thank you. I think Charlie's great, too." He is Dan's, after all, even if there are no papers or rings to say so. Casey and Charlie truly are family.

* * *

The Ferris wheel is really pretty tall, and Charlie is looking down at the whole fair. the people below him almost look like little toys. Not like they do from an airplane, but oddly distorted, like in that Sims game. He's got what his dad taught him was a bird's eye view, and he's pretty sure can see stuff he isn't supposed to. Just like he did last night, when he had to go to the bathroom, and saw that Dan wasn't sleeping on the lumpy futon the way he'd started out, but was in his dad's room instead. They were curled up together the way his mom and dad used to be..

Now his dad and Dan are in the space behind the fun house. It's kind of dark, but Charlie can see that Dan is wrapping his arms around his dad, and that pretty soon they're going to kiss. The wheel goes down a bit, and now they're out of range, which is okay with him. He doesn't really like watching people kissing. It doesn't matter if they're guys or girls or both.

Charlie really likes it when Dan is around during his visits with his Dad. He knows his dad likes it too. He smiles a lot more, and lets Charlie get away with eating both taffy _and_ fudge at the fair without making him brush his teeth ('til they get home, anyway).

Dan is really cool, and he never treats Charlie like a little kid -- he's practically a teenager now, or well, he will be in a few years -- and Charlie really appreciates that.

Charlie's pretty sure that Dan knows that _he_ knows about them. How Dan is his dad's very best friend. Not the way Charlie is friends with Blake -- videogames and exploring the park for fossils, but the way Aunt Natalie is with her boyfriend Jeremy.

It's okay. Charlie's known about gay people all his life, and it's really no big deal that his dad wants to kiss Danny. As long as Dan wants to kiss him back, because his Dad has had it kinda bad since Charlie's mom started being mad at him.

Charlie's mom doesn't like it when he asks about that. He knows they're divorced now, and his mom and dad both told him it's not his fault. He thinks it might be Dan's fault a little, but he tries not to be angry like his mom. You can't help who you love, and his dad loves Uncle Danny.

Okay, Danny's not really an uncle, and Charlie doesn't actually call him that, except in his head. He doesn't know what to call him sometimes. He's more than just a _friend_ of the family. He's family, too.  



End file.
